Seven tornadoes have hit Florida in advance of Hurricane Milton, the National Weather Service in Miami said on Wednesday.
Hurricanes and tropical storms have the ability to produce tornadoes.
The National Weather Service said there had been 53 tornado warnings issued by 3pm ET on Wednesday, 41 of which were issued by the weather service in Miami.
The weather service said on X that it had “received reports of structures damaged in Lakeport” on Wednesday as the “most recent tornado-warned storm moved through the area”. The service said it was the second tornado to impact Lakeport, an unincorporated community about two hours from Miami, on Wednesday.
A tornado was captured on video tearing through Fort Meyers, crossing over the major I-75 highway as cars were still driving.
Hurricane Milton has been downgraded to category 3 but is still a grave threat to Florida, officials said.
10/9 at 3pm: Here is a view of all of the *Tornado Warnings* issued by NWS Tampa Bay, NWS Miami, and NWS Melbourne thus far.
— NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) October 9, 2024
As of 3pm, 53 total tornado warnings have been issued today...
41 issued by NWS Miami
Please remain aware for current and future tornado warnings! https://t.co/j3fr86cifC pic.twitter.com/Zc3WjqD7D6
The tornado watch will remain valid until Wednesday evening at 9pm ET and covers parts of south Florida including Miami, Key Largo, Tampa, Port St Lucie, Jupiter Farms, Sebring, Sebastian, Sarasota, North Port, Cape Coral and Bonita Springs, according to the agency.
Videos and pictures posted online showed several of the spotted tornadoes growing in size as they move across south Florida.
The agency also warned that isolated hail up to 0.5in in size is possible, along with isolated gusts of wind traveling up to 70mph (112km/h). Approximately 12.6 million residents face potential exposure to the tornadoes, in addition to 2,424 schools and 170 hospitals.
The tornadoes come as Hurricane Milton is expected to double in size as the “storm of the century” by the time it makes landfall late on Wednesday or early Thursday.
The record storm is expected to bring up to 15ft (4.5 metres) of storm surge along the coast of Florida as the state continues to reel from the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Helene a few weeks ago.
